By Matthew Jones
December 16 2004

18-year-old James Milner, who may well get another chance to impress Graeme Souness on the left wing tonight, has spoken out ahead of the game. Newcastle take on Sporting Lisbon at SJP in the UEFA cup - knowing that a single point will secure a top finish in Group D. Milner said: "The Sporting game is a massive game.

"They are the sorts of European games players like to be involved in. For a young player, like me, it will be a great experience. European football is where you want to be and I'm looking forward to it.

"For the team it's vital we give a good performance and get a good result. If we can do that we can take it into the Premiership games and get ourselves back up the table. We want to win some silverware this season and we've shown some good form in this competition.

"If we can win the group we should get an easier draw in the next round as we will avoid a Champions League team. But I think a good performance and result is the most important thing for us at the moment."

Milner added: "The most important thing is for us to get our form back.

"We've got a lot of games coming up, and they are tough games. We all know results have not been good enough and we need to get that right over Christmas.

"If we can do that then we'll start to move back up the table. That is all we're concentrating on doing."